Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Joe Cole voted for Player of the Month

Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole has been voted PFA Player of the Month for the first time since he joined the Blues.

In fact, a statement from the PFA said: "Joe Cole has made massive progress since becoming a regular in coach Jose Mourinho's side, and his increasing contribution to the Chelsea FC cause has certainly not gone unnoticed by the supporters who have voted him Fans' Player of the Month for January.

"After many match-winning performances around the turn of the year, Mourinho said Cole was 'untouchable' and added: 'I think Cole is playing magnificently in every game and he is perhaps our best attacking player at this time. When I came here nobody knew Joe Cole's best position - not even him! We only knew that he was a creative player.'

"But Joe Cole has come to learn that whilst you can be the Special One's favourite one week, you can expect a verbal volley the next - and a place on the bench. These days though, the former West Ham midfielder starts more games than he misses and is an integral part of the Chelsea midfield alongside his England pal Frank Lampard.

"Cole has certainly added consistency to the undoubted class which also makes him an England starter, and he says: 'I have been a regular in the Chelsea side for the last 12 months or so and shown my worth to the team. Yet football is a fickle game and I know things can change quickly. People want to see you do the business every week.

"The whole team has to keep on top of things and we want to keep a nice cushion at the top of the table. You can never rest on your laurels because the standards are so high at Chelsea and you need to be at your best every game you play in.

"One of the areas I would like to improve is my goalscoring. I scored between five and seven goals a season when I was at West Ham. Okay, I'm not like Frank Lampard who can shoot from 30 yards. I need to get the ball a bit closer to goal. Even so, I'll be working my hardest to get that goal ratio up.'

"Whether he gets the chance to do it in tomorrow's FA Cup replay against Everton remains to be seen - but he'd love to be leading the revenge mission from the front. He added: 'Everton pushed us all way up there and because they have also taken points off us in the League, we feel as though we owe them one.'

"Looking at the bigger picture and the Chelsea ambitions for the remainder of the campaign, Cole said: 'Last season was a cracking one for Chelsea Football Club, but we want this one to be even better. It's great for me to be part of such a success story and to be playing for a fantastic club like Chelsea".